Thursday’s games at the 2017 Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic provided hockey fans with plenty of excitement. All four contests went to overtime with three having to be decided via a shootout.
Gunnery ended up winning the tournament on Saturday with a 2-1 double overtime victory over Kent that will go down in the record books as a tie. Avon Old Farms took third place with a 5-1 win over Trinity-Pawling. St. Paul’s and Loomis tied, 1-1, in the fifth place game and Berkshire downed Tabor, 2-1, in the seventh place game.
New England Hockey Journal was present for all four games Thursday. Here’s a recap and analysis of all eight teams and their top prospects:
Gunnery
The tournament champions had a balanced lineup that included a group of smaller defensemen who could all skate the puck up the ice. They blended that with a couple of right wings who played a physical game.
Craig Badger’s team skated to a 2-2 tie against Trinity-Pawling, but won in a shootout for purposes of the tournament. Marc Gatcomb and Alex Coady were the goal scorers while J.P. Mella was solid in net. Coady’s goal was a sweet end-to-end rush that he finished off with just one hand on the stick.
Lines
#8 Mark D’Agostino (UConn) - #10 Albert Washco - #19 Marc Gatcomb
#7 Zach Pellegrino - #16 Aiden Edwards –
#14 Ryan Trom - #12 Niko Grollman - #21 Mason Beecher
#20 James Rayhill (Cornell) - #5 Hunter Sansbury
#2 Alex Coady - #17 Niko Ioannou
#1 J.P. Mella
Prospect Notes
James Rayhill
3/17/01, Soph., D, Shoots Right, 5-10/157 (Cornell)
The New Hartford, N.Y., native is a great athlete. He’s small, but he defends well with good positioning and a good stick. His gaps are always good. He’s poised and is able to slow the game down.
Marc Gatcomb
7/22/99, Sr., RW, Shoots Right, 6-2/177
The Woburn, Mass., native is a big bodied winger who does a good job of playing to his strengths. He can get up and down the sheet and he throws his weight around. He scored a rebound goal by driving the net for the loose puck off a teammate’s shot. He’s a fringe prospect, meaning he could be a great Division III player or an older freshman down the road in Division I.
Trinity-Pawling
Bobby Ferraris’s team is much better this season and will sneak up on opponents that don’t take the Lions seriously. T-P has several newcomers worth watching, including both goal scorers in Thursday’s 2-2 tie: ’02 forward C.J. Zezima and ’00 defenseman Gabe Blanchard. Goaltender Evan Ruschil, another incoming player, looked good in net.
Lines
#8 Joey Musa (Dartmouth) - #7 Jackson Breton - #13 Jake Blackwell
#11 Shane Murphy - #33 Scott Lawson - #18 Stephen Willey
#19 C.J. Zezima - #24 A.J. Bella - #10 Chris Aarons
#9 Nolan LaPlante - #23 Stephen Perez - #15 Matt Emster
#5 Gabe Blanchard - #16 Kyle Miller
#4 Phip Waugh (Army) - #3 John Garvey
#2 Cam Grillo - #20 Owen Sheppard
#1 Evan Ruschil
Prospect Notes
Joe Musa
6/11/00, Jr., LW, Shoots Left, 5-8/150 (Dartmouth)
Musa is small, but he plays a smart and gritty game. He knows where to go to find pucks and make plays. He’s not afraid to mix it up in the dirty areas. His hockey sense and offensive skill set are strong. He’ll be a great addition for the Big Green.
C.J. Zezima
3/12/02, Fr., LW, Shoots Left, 5-7/140
The New Canaan, Conn., native was really good Thursday. He made a good read on zone entry on the goal he scored. After passing the puck he went to the net where he got the puck back. He patiently waited the goalie out and flipped the puck into the back of the net. He’s gritty, he retrieved pucks and kept pucks moving.
Stephen Willey
3/26/01, Soph., RW, Shoots Right, 6-0/190
He didn’t find the score sheet, but he played a solid game. There’s a lot to like about his skill set. He skates well and has good size that he uses to his advantage. He’s strong on puck pursuit and was energetic.
Gabe Blanchard
9/15/00, Jr., D, Shoots Left, 6-0/185
The East Aurora, N.Y., native had an up and down game. He walked the blue line, side-stepping an oncoming forward to score a goal from the point. His skating was solid as usual, but he turned the puck over a lot.
Avon Old Farms
The Winged Beavers were stymied on Thursday by a hot goaltender, but John Gardner’s team won in overtime thanks to a Matt Kirwan goal. Kirwan and St. Lawrence recruit Nick Wildgoose were the offensive producers on this afternoon.
AOF has some elite younger players, but they didn’t see much ice time on Thursday against St. Paul’s.
Lines
#15 Zach Rehbaum (Brown) - #16 Max Rand - #14 Max Sauve
#22 Will Christiansen - #9 Nick Wildgoose (St. Lawrence) - #21 Matt Kirwan
#20 Stefan Miklakos - #11 John Louder - #8 Nick Keroack
#27 Ryan Kirwan (Penn State) - #13 Tim Heinke - #10 Jason Siedem (BC)
#5 Moe Acee (St. Lawrence) - #12 Cullen Young
#7 Mac Wiseman (UConn) - #3 Will Rooney
#2 Grey Owens - #17 Aaron Pinto
#25 Gentry Shamburger
#35 Alex Aslanidis (Providence)
St. Paul’s
Under first year head coach Dan Murphy, formerly of Taft, St. Paul’s gave a more talented AOF squad all it could handle Thursday. The star for Pelicans was ’00 junior goaltender Andy Beran, who played for the Neponset Valley River Rats in the fall. He’s small and will likely make a very good NESCAC recruit down the road.
’02 Jack Hepp had a lot of buzz because of his size, but his skating and stick skills need work. ’00 Finnish left wing Julien Menes was the team’s top skater.
Lines
#10 Julien Menes - #19 Ryan Peck - #9 Garth McLaughlin
#24 James Orne - #8 Max Dumas - #27 Jon Saklad
#7 Hubert Bourque - #17 Jordan Michaud
#6 Teddy McElhaney - #3 Jack Hepp
#29 Andy Beran
Kent
The Lions fell to Gunnery in the championship game, but it was a strong weekend for Dale Reinhardt’s team.
’01 junior defenseman Ian Pierce is the team’s top college prospect. He assisted on two goals Thursday night. Fellow ’01 newcomers on the blue liner, Matthew Perryman and Javi Ubarri, also played well. ’00 junior goaltender Alex Contey is a big goaltender. ’02 Aidan Cobb is a player to watch for the future.
Lines
#19 Jeremy Routh - #18 Tyler Cooligan - #11 Adam Usinger
#13 Patrick Goggin - #23 Alex Giummo - #7 Finn McLain
#10 Aidan Cobb - #9 Jason Kleinhans - #24 Colin Cobb
#5 Josh Stich - #2 Nick Smith
#3 Matthew Perryman - #21 Ian Pierce
#14 Javi Ubarri - #8 Andrew Lane
#30 Alex Contey
Prospect Notes
Ian Pierce
1/24/01, Jr., D, Shoots Left, 5-10/175
The Edgewater, N.J., native is a smooth skater who plays a simple yet solid game. He has good feet which allows him to side-step forecheckers and walk the blue line. He moves the puck well. He transitions from defense to offense is smart in all three zones.
Tabor
It was a rough weekend for Gerry Dineen’s club, losing three in a row after the tie against Kent. The Seawolves are without their best player, Hunter Brackett, for a few more weeks as he returns from an upper body injury.
Lines
#23 Owen Rudicus - #2 Patrick Daly - #12 Alex Bower
#8 Eric Pedro - #17 Peter Lombardi - #15 Brad Tripp
#5 Tyler Harvey - #6 Chris Picard
#21 Connor Guyette - #7 Cam Barbagallo
#22 Konstantinos Sotiropoulos - #4 Ian Gindhart
#1 Brandon Sherman
Loomis-Chaffee
The Pelicans had a tough weekend, going 1-1-2, but took shootout losses in the two ties, including Thursday’s game against Berkshire. LC has enough talent that they should turn things around eventually.
Lines
#24 Mark Amatetti - #12 Anthony Cipollone (UVM) - #11 Cody Hoban (Dartmouth)
#22 Alex Krause - #10 Trent DeNuccio - #19 Sam DiMaio
#17 Connor Leighton - #18 Jack Costello - #15 Reilly Connors
#7 Andrew Lucas (UVM) - #8 Matthew Giuttari
#37 David Paluch - #4 Kennedy O’Connor
#13 Ryan Armstrong - #16 John Fiallo
#1 Patrick Pugliese
Prospect Notes
Andrew Lucas
2/5/99, Sr., D, Shoots Right, 5-11/150 (Vermont)
The Alexandria, Va., native did a great job on shoulder checks while going back to retrieve pucks. He stepped up for a two-on-one chance while killing a penalty. His skating allows him to engage as a fourth forward. He made a few nice long breakout passes to push the pace. His vision is superior in transit and in the attacking zone while quarterbacking a power play. He has good feet for one-timers.
David Paluch
6/22/01, Jr., D, Shoots Left, 5-11/160 (Vermont)
The Mississauga, Ontario, native is a good skater who transitions from defense to offense quickly. He makes nice short, simple passes that lead to quick breakouts. He has good aggressive gaps and has a good stick defensively.
Berkshire
Lines
#17 Travis Pruden - #21 Briggs Gammill - #8 Brooks Gammill
#16 Jesse Lycan - #18 Jack Whitney - #11 Thomas Horak
#22 Hayden Riva - #19 Jack Bavis - #12 Oliver Cookson
#5 Aidan Metcalfe - #6 Billy Zegras
#3 Mark Driscoll - #4 Brendan Maloney
#20 John Pratt - #26 Cade Alami
#30 Thomas Draper
Prospect Notes
Cade Alami
3/13/01, Soph., D, Shoots Right, 6-6/170 (Providence)
The Bedford, N.Y., native is a project for the Friars. His size is certainly intriguing, but as a younger, raw blue liner, he only saw third pairing minutes on Thursday evening. His length and reach defensively are assets.
Briggs Gammill
5/9/01, Soph., C, Shoots Left, 5-9/150 (Yale)
Gammill has come a long way in over a year. He took a major step this summer, earning a commitment to the Bulldogs. He’s a good skater with a decent skill set and above average hands.
